Improving Access, Advocacy, and Accountability in the Juvenile Court

(3 hours State Bar of California approved MCLE credit)

• ASFA and child welfare policy
• Critical advocacy at disposition – the statutory requirements: paternity, relatives, siblings, the permanency alternative placement
• Critical crafting of measurable reunification plans
• Review hearings and mandated federal and state timelines
• Review hearings and mandated reporting under WIC §§ 366.21(d), 293(f), 309(e)
• Fact based reporting and caseworker visits
• Transition Plans
• Requests to change a court order under WIC § 388
• De Facto Parent Status – the myths and the realities
• Actions to Commence Proceedings in Juvenile Court under WIC §§ 329, 331

Placement and Permanency Planning in Juvenile Court

(3 hours State Bar of California approved MCLE credit)

• The critical first 60 days
• Placement issues at detention, disposition, and review hearings; paternity, ICWA, siblings, relatives
• Timelines: why they matter
• Sibling placement considerations
• Conflicts of interest when representing a sibling group
• CDSS Regulations
• Guardianship and adoption planning
• Trauma informed advocacy
• Caregiver Report Form, JV-290
• De facto Parent Status, JV-295, JV-296
• Prospective Adoptive Parent Status, JV-321

(2.25 hours State Bar of California approved MCLE credit, including one hour Ethics credit)

• Child’s right to representation and competency of counsel
• Ethical issues
• Standards of practice and duties of counsel
• Substantive law issues that especially affect the child

(2.25 hours State Bar of California approved MCLE credit)

• Recent legislation applicable to juvenile dependency law
• Recent changes and additions to Rules of Court and Judicial Council forms applicable to juvenile dependency practice
• California Supreme Court decisions on juvenile dependency law in the last 12 months
• Significant appellate decisions over the last 12 months interpreting dependency statutes and addressing other juvenile dependency issues

ICWA Notice Requirements in Juvenile Dependency Cases: the Role of Counsel for the Parents and Child

(2 hours State Bar of California approved MCLE credit)

• California’s codification of federal requirements
• Rules of Court implementing codification and appellate decisions interpreting ICWA notice requirements
• Social worker’s duty of inquiry
• Court’s duty of inquiry
• Agency’s duty to give notice, when notice is required, who is entitled to notice and items that must be included with notice
• Mailing and certification requirements
• Duty to file with court and serve on parties
• Hearing on whether a child is an Indian child, timing and notice
• Attorney’s roles in assuring accuracy and adequacy of notice

De Facto Parent Representation: an Emerging Specialty

(2 hours State Bar of California approved MCLE credit)

• Legal definition
• Non-statutory designation
• Rules of Court
• Case law and considerations
• When to request
• How long is long enough – it’s not all about time
• JV Forms – 295, 296, 297
• Procedural rights of De Facto Parent
• Appellate rights
• Effective participation by De Facto Parents

Paternity: What Do You Need to Know

(2 hours State Bar of California approved MCLE credit)

• Review and discussion of laws and cases related to presumed, biological, adjudicated, alleged, Kelsey S., and equitable paternity determinations
• Determining parentage in dependency cases
• Establishing parentage in dependency cases
• The rights that flow from each type of parentage established

Six Months Is a Long Time

(3 hours State Bar of California approved MCLE credit)

• A young child’s sense of time
• Engaging parents on day #1
• Relative search requirements
• Bypass options
• Critical crafting of specific, measurable, and dynamic reunification requirements
• Assessing and improving parent-infant emotional engagement
• Visitation
• Addiction, recovery and the delicate balance of time
• The neuroscience of attachment
• Fact based reporting
• Transitioning a child home
• Preventing re-entry